CHS54.COM has moved HERE where Charlotte Central High School's graduates of 1954 now get together.
That was a special class at a very special time in history; the likes of which will never be seen again.
Ed Myers, aka Lee Shephard, is webmaster. Email is shephard@gmail.com

Wednesday, November 05, 2014

I Love Used Book Stores

My favorite is “The Hole in the Wall”right here in Falls Church on Main
Street.

It’s owned by one of the nicest ladies in this
town.Her name is…THE BOOKSTORE
LADY.(I’m pretty sure she has another
more formal one, but after all the years I’ve known her, it’s too late now to
ask what her name is.)

We were talking the other day and she commented on
how I ought to consider writing a book about all of the famous people I
interviewed on TV over the years. She suggested a possible title, “Famous
Interviews I’ve had.”Or something like
that.

I thought about that for a few seconds and told her
that I had a better idea in mind and it would be an even thicker book, “Famous
Interviews I NEVER had.”

Because I had many more near misses than home runs
in the interview department. And a lot of
the

time it was my fault.In the early
60’s former President Harry Truman would often visit Washington and when he
did, he continued his habit of “walking” several blocks every morning, like he
had always done during his days as President.

Harry Truman morning walk

My friend Paul Niven of CBS had arranged with the
ex President to walk along with him and be interviewed as he walked.

Paul invited me to come along.Then, the day before the event, something
else came up…something totally forgettable and insignificant and in my infinite
poor judgement chose it over the walk with Harry Truman!

Then there was the story I’ve told before on this
site when I turned down an interview with the WTOP switchboard operator’s ex
husband………who later turned out to be Carlos Casteneda who TIME Magazine
called“THE MOST MYSTERIOUS MAN IN
AMERICA.”

I came very close to interviewing JOHN F.
KENNEDY.I had gotten clearance for 5
minutes with him following one of his many press

JFK

conferences. We were to meet
behind the stage of the State Department Auditorium followingthe briefing, but asluck would have it the news event went long,
and my interview was scrapped.However,
I’ll always remember how different Kennedy looked in person as he answered the
reporter’s questions that day. His
complexion was very ruddy and…his face was extremely puffy…and swollen. It was almost like his head didn't match his body. We all learned later it was the result of
Addison’s disease, but to this day, I have no idea how the TV cameras failed to
show this. Perhaps it was because of the “black and white” video images of that
day.

Drew Pearson

Then, there was the time I almost interviewed Frank
Sinatra. It was May 3, 1967. The famous “Muckracker" Drew Pearson (who was proud
to be called that) was President of the Washington “Big Brothers,” and to raise
money for them had arranged for his friend Frank Sinatra to perform for free at
the Shoreham Hotel. More that 14 hundred people paid $50 each for attending this
testimonial affair.

I was one of them.

Pearson had become a fairly regular guest on a local
morning TV show I was hosting at the time and he seemed to like me. I was fairly
confident he was going to get Sinatra to say yes to an interview with me after
his performance. Hubert Humphrey, the Vice President, was also a guest at the
Sinatra Concert and mentioned that President Johnson had invited Drew to come
by the White House after the show.

Frank Sinatra

So, there went my interview with Sinatra.Although, as it turned out, Frank would
probably have wished to have stayed around the hotel and had an interview with me……or
…..ANYBODY……rather that to be at the White House that night.

Oliver Pilat, in his book, “Drew Pearson,” describes
what happened:

“The three men (Pearson, Humphrey, and Sinatra)
arrived at the Lincoln bedroom in the White House well after midnight.Lady Bird was already under the covers in the
big four poster Lincoln bed with its overhanging canopy. The President, bare
above pajama bottoms, was lying on a table being pounded by a masseur.

LBJ

After a quick glance, Johnson turned his head away from
his visitors without saying anything.Humprey’s light conversation with Lady Bird gradually evaporated.The President finally threw a few words of
greeting at Humphrey and Pearson, ignoring Sinatra, who had gone over to the
famous mantelpiece, on which Pearson had reported in the column, Jacqueline
Kennedy had carved a strange record of her husband’s tenancy.

Johnson jumped off the rubbing table, grabbed an old
souvenir booklet about the White House dating back to the Kennedy
administration and thrust it at Sinatra. “I don’t suppose you read, “ the President
said, with an edge on his Texas drawl, “but this has lots of pictures.”The pictures included Rat Pack members Eddie
Fisher and Dean Martin.

“Here’s something else,” Johnson said, even more
offensively, handing Sinatra a presidential trinket for women visitors, a
lipstick with the White House seal on it.“It’s a conversation piece,” he said.“It will make a big man of youwith your women,”

Stiffening under the patter of insult, Sinatra
turned and walked from the room without a word.

Pearson and Humphrey followed after hurried
farewells. -Oliver Pilat from his book DREW PEARSON

Ozymandias

`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'

Keep on Tooting

WISDOM FROM STEVE JOBS

Your Time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.

Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.

And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

Everything else is secondary.

-Steve Jobs

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The only thing that has changed is the "dot net" part of our address.

And most of the articles over the past years that this blog has been in existence are now at this address.

So WELCOME dot NET...

Ellouise Blog

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